MELBOURNE Storm coach Craig Bellamy may say that he does not know, or had not really thought about what sort of tricks Canterbury counterpart Des Hasler could pull out of the box in Sunday's grand final. But Bellamy has no doubt of the capabilities of the Bulldogs mentor.
The pair have shared a intense rivalry, spilitting grand final wins in 2007 and 2008 when Hasler was the coach of Manly, although the Storm's premiership was later stripped because of salary cap rorting.
Bellamy said he admired the transformation that Hasler had made to the Bulldogs, which he took to the minor premiership in his first season at the club. In that time, he has, similar to Bellamy, changed journeymen and fringe players into quality first graders.
"I don't know what to expect from Des on Sunday, but the thing you know is he's done a wonderful thing with them this year," said Bellamy, before the Storm's training session yesterday afternoon.
"He's obviously changed their game style without a doubt, and I'd imagine they'll stick pretty much with that they've been doing (all season). It's been very successful, they've been the best and most successful team throughout the competition this year, so he's done a wonderful job there in getting all those guys on board and believeing in what he wanted to do.
"Those players have turned themselves into NRL players. Des has obviously shown them what they have to do and how they do it and they've taken the bull by the horns and done it ."